Providing an aiming display for weapons (e.g. handguns, shotguns, assault rifles and as such) and other directional devices (e.g. binoculars, laser range finders, hyperbolic laser microphones etc.) is very challenging. Standard iron sights mounted on firearms require the user to hold the pistol at a certain level and focus on the sight instead of the target.
Reflector sights (otherwise known as “reflex sights” or “red-dot” sights) display a red dot (or other configurations or patterns) in the reticle of the sight. Reflex sights are very useful for rifles, but require the user to hold the firearm in a very narrow angle (in the line of sight—LOS) in order to see the red-dot. Reflex sights are even more problematic for short barreled weapons, as any small deviation from the LOS results in the user not being able to see the red-dot. There are also situations where neither iron sights nor reflex sights can be used, such as, for example, when using Night Vision Goggles (NVG). In such a scenario, a fixed laser marker is used for direct aiming at the target (e.g. an IR laser can be seen using NVG, without giving the user position away to the enemy).
Laser pointers are a well known shooting aid for weapons, providing a direct “hit location” marking i.e. the laser shows a specific, fixed location where the projectile will hit—but laser pointers cannot provide guidance and direction towards marked or locked (i.e. tracked) target locations that can be especially important in close combat situation.
In fact, this is not only a laser pointer problem, but rather a drawback of all types of weapon sights which direct the user to just one point that is aligned with the barrel of the weapon.